Valentine's Day calls for something sweet -- but you can skip the candy for me. Make mine a dessert wine.

There are the usual suspects: port, late-harvest riesling, Tokaji. But a trip to France's Roussillon region inspired in me a thirst for its dessert wines, or vin doux naturel (literally, natural sweet wine).

Roussillon produces 90 percent of France's vin doux naturel, a term that's a bit misleading because the wines are sweet as a result of a man-made intervention: Grape spirits (clear brandy) are added to the fermenting wine, which stops the fermentation while the wine is still sweet and boosts the alcohol. The process, called mutage in French, is similar to that used for port.

Some of the vineyards in Banyuls, in southern France, overlook the Mediterranean.
Photo courtesy Steven Jankowski
(
Steven Jankowski
)

Sweet wines from the area, which hugs the Mediterranean in France's far south, near the Spanish border, come in a range of colors. The best-known bottlings are from Rivesaltes and Banyuls.

Rivesaltes, a large flat-to-rolling zone, is the largest appellation in Roussillon for sweet wine. There are several types of dessert wine made there, but the easiest to find is muscat de Rivesaltes, a golden wine made from muscat blanc and muscat of Alexandria. (Muscat blanc generally is considered the superior, more aromatic muscat, but Rivesaltes vintners like muscat of Alexandria for the weight it brings to the wines.)

Another type of wine, Rivesaltes ambre, can contain muscat as well as some other grape varieties. Ambre is, as the name suggests, an amber color, the result of a few years of oxidative aging, sort of like tawny port.

Advertisement

Banyuls is an altogether different type of area. The grapes, mostly grenache noir, are grown on breathtakingly steep, rocky slopes, some of which rise almost directly from the sea. The vineyards for Banyuls (and its dry counterpart, Collioure) are the southernmost in France. Aging techniques and wine hue vary, but the wines I see most often are those labeled as "rimage," which are not oxidized and are bottled quickly to retain their fruitiness.

I love good muscat in nearly all its guises, and muscat de Rivesaltes is no exception. The best ones are aromatic, floral, sweet but not cloying and, despite alcohol levels over 15 percent, aren't at all "hot." For example, the 2008 Domaine Cazes Muscat de Rivesaltes ($25) is spicy and fragrant, with citrus, honeysuckle, orange peel and nutmeg. (The 2007 vintage is currently available.) The 2011 Domaine Gardies "Flor" Muscat de Rivesaltes ($23) offers floral aromas and sweet pineapple, mango and peach flavors. And the 2011 Ferrer Ribiere Muscat de Rivesaltes ($22.75) is a little lighter, with white peach and peach blossom notes.

Not many Rivesaltes ambres are imported; one that is, the 1998 Domaine Gardies Rivesaltes Ambre ($33), is made mostly from grenache blanc and aged for eight years, including five in large barrels. The wine is nutty and sweet, with peach jam flavors and nice freshness. Another is the nonvintage Chateau de Pena Rivesaltes Ambre ($15), which isn't overly sweet and has flavors of nuts, dried apricots and ginger.

Banyuls sometimes is referred to as port's French cousin, although I find that Banyuls tends to taste less alcoholic. A good example is the 2011 Domaine La Tour Vieille Banyuls Rimage ($24), which is spicy, with dried fig, dark chocolate and a hint of tobacco. The 2010 M. Chapoutier Banyuls Rimage ($29) offers sweet raisin and fig flavors, but the finish is a little more drying.

Roussillon's sweet wines aren't likely to be on the shelves of most supermarkets, but many good wine stores will stock a couple of them. If you don't find the brands I suggested, do try another. And if you can't find a bottle for tonight's festivities, keep these wines in mind for future occasions that call for something sweet.

Most of Roussillon's vintners also produce dry wines. In fact, the region is in transition: 60 years ago, most of Roussillon's wines were sweet, but now production is about half sweet, half dry. I'll tell you about the dry wines in a future column.